


Pit -4 i923 


COLOR IN 

ARCHITECTVRE 


THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF 
ITS APPLICATION IN AVAILABLE 
MEDIUMS 


M PRINTED BY Pf RM IS5ION OF THE AMERICAN ARCHITECT 
AND ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW 











• • * 



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FOREWORD 


jjHE following treatise originally ap¬ 
peared as a series of articles published 
in The American Architect and 
Architectural Review during the 
months of September and October, 1922, 
and through the courtesy of the publishers 
of that magazine the National Terra Cotta 
Society is enabled to re-publish these articles 
in brochure form. 






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Gift 

Sod'3% 

APfc / 1923 





WINDOWS IN THE COURT OF THE PALACE OF GALEAZZO VISCONTI AT PAVIA 

NEAR MILAN, ITALY 

FROM THE RESTORATION BY F. LOSE 

(.Reproduced from The Terra Cotta Architecture of Northern Italy ) 

But a fragment of this once magnificent 14th Century dwelling was standing in 1867 when the restoration 
above was made. Bernardino of Venice appears to have been among the architects responsible. The maxi¬ 
mum of positive decision characterized the use of color in terra cotta, marble, brick and painted decoration 


THE AMERICAN ARCHITECT 






















































































COLOR IN ARCHITECTURE 


BY F. S. LAURENCE 

Executive Secretary, National Terra Cotta Society 



E VERY building erected necessar¬ 
ily presents a color scheme. The 
following pages aim to give 
some of the broad fundamental princi¬ 
ples of the successful use of color 
through employment of the materials 
which must be the medium of its ex¬ 
pression in architecture. Literature 
that is of practical help in this relation 
is unfortunately quite limited. A 
number of works exist on the phe¬ 
nomena of color, the laws of harmony 
and theory of complementary shades, 
among which Chevruel’s work, transla¬ 
tions of which may be found in our pub¬ 
lic libraries, is perhaps the most useful 
in its complete and exhaustive treatment 
of the subject. This existing literature, 
however, is all so highly technical anti 
scientific in its nature that there is need 
of a simple statement of the basic prin¬ 
ciples of application in architecture and 
the use of available mediums. 

The first necessity is a correct inter¬ 
pretation of the term “color.” In the em¬ 
ployment of the word there is much con¬ 
fusion of thought, “color” being too fre¬ 
quently used to define only an expression 
in polychrome design and usually to de¬ 
note the treatment of detail in shades of 
green, blue, yellow, etc. The term poly¬ 
chrome is also used sometimes to de¬ 
scribe contrasts of tone in one color or in 
black and white which may also be used 
to enrich ornament or define pattern. 

Consideration of the subject should 
start with recognition of the term 
“color” as covering any possible result 
in the use of any material, whether in one or in 
several colors. There is no material employed 
in architecture which has not color, whether it be 
any of the varieties of natural stones, marble, 
brick, terra cotta or even cement. All have a 


This is a 
green and 
also plays 


Polychrome treatment of a tile house in Mexico City 

characteristic detail of the lavish use of polychrome in blue, orange, 
white coloring for paneled surfaces with carved stone trim. Shadow 
a pronounced part in the chromatic effect together with brilliant 
coloring in the awnings and other accessories 


certain- chromatic interest proceeding from the 
nature of the elements composing them even 
where no artificial color interest is introduced in 
manufacturing or finishing processes. White and 
black which are not colors in the strict meaning of 


( Copyright , 1922, The Architectural & Building Press, Inc.) 




the term nevertheless have a 
positive interest which may be 
described as chromatic and for 
the purposes of this article will 
be included under the term 
color as hereafter used. 

The statement that every 
building erected presents a 
color scheme is something more 
than the trite expression of an 
undisputed fact. It brings into 
view the law of association in 
mental process which must be 
taken into account in solving 
the color problems of architec¬ 
tural design. 


Influence of Familiar 
Examples : Sincerity 


Detail of entablature, Madison Square Presbyterian Church 

Polychrome coloring was employed with great richness in this feature. Blue, green, 
yellow, sienna and gold were distributed throughout relief harmonizing with the rich 
warm gray of the brick wall below and serving as a transition to the culminating use ot 
color in the pediment 


To realize the importance of 
this factor apply a test easily 
open to the resident of any aver¬ 
age American city. Stroll 
through any of the streets and 
note the number of familiar 
buildings which have not here¬ 
tofore registered on your con¬ 
sciousness an impression of any 
chromatic interest. You will be 
surprised to note the gamut of 
color represented in these 
familiar instances, taking the 
street as a whole. Here are a 
few colors noted in the space of 
one city block in the midtown 
business section of Hew York, 
referring only to materials used 
in construction and excluding 
awnings, signs, and other ac¬ 
cessories : red, green, blue, yel¬ 
low, brown, gray, purple, black 
and white, in quantity, and in 
great variety of each color. 

To mention the effect, or non- 
effect, upon consciousness, of one very positive 
color by way of illustration. Red greets us on 
every hand in the fagades of brick buildings 
and is dismissed as not illustrating any use of 
color from its prevalence as a familiar com¬ 
monplace. The attitude of mind would be 
markedly different were the same color, iden¬ 
tically, to be used as a field for the walls of a 
stucco dwelling, or such a modification of it as 
would register on the eye an equal intensity of pre¬ 
vailing color to that occasioned by the brick and 
mortar joint together. Here we would have the 
impression of a “color stunt” and probably a quite 
ugly one at that. How why? Cement can be 
artificially colored and given an interesting broken 
texture. Delicate pink, a modification of red, 


would not offend. This, and various shades of 
yellow and gray are beautiful and perfectly legit¬ 
imate in stucco. Why not red, and as bright as 
obtainable in any brick ? Red walls are beautiful 
when expressed in skillful brick design. Why not 
in stucco ? There is nothing in the laws governing 
the harmonious relation of colors in the abstract 
and their application to structural form which 
forbids. 

The answer is to be found in our habit of as¬ 
sociating certain color effects with certain mate¬ 
rials and no effective study can proceed which 
ignores this as a powerful factor in solving the 
problems of chromatic treatment. But it does not 
follow that we are bound by it against any depar¬ 
ture from the sphere of familiar things nor that 


2 


































Madison Square Presbyterian Church, New York City 
McKim, Mead & White, Architects 

An epochal modern achievement in the successful relation of brick, granite, marble and terra cotta. Points in its success¬ 
ful treatment are noted in the illustration of details. The completion of this work greatly stimulated interest in the 
possibilities of polychrome design in America and may be regarded as initiating the present widespread production ot 
polychrome glazes in exterior terra cotta. Destruction of this building to make way for a skyscraper has been justly 
regarded as a distinct loss to American architecture. The tympanum feature of the pediment has been preserved 
by permanently installing in one of the wings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. 


3 



































doing so necessarily involves something more start¬ 
ling and bizarre than what we already have in 
“safe” conservative examples of design. Looked 
at with new eyes some of these are pretty pro¬ 
nounced chromatic “stunts” measured by the stand¬ 
ards of abstract color relationships. 

But the use of color in architecture cannot be 
reduced to the abstract and be determined by any 
pure theory of color and the principles of harmony 
alone. In architecture color cannot be disasso¬ 
ciated from the problems of formal expression and 


priate to their nature. Without observance of this 
the first great principle of all vital design, sincer¬ 
ity, cannot be realized. 

Quality as an Element of Colok 

Granting the correct interpretation of the 
term color to mean the chromatic interest of 
an entire building we are brought to the question of 
how far we can proceed to a consideration of the 
uses of color from the sound basis of sincerity de¬ 
fined in the preceding chapter as the first principle 



Pediment of Madison Square Presbyterian Church where color treatment of terra cotta culminated in the strong contrast of 
white upon blue in the tympanum with touches of sienna and gold. The paneled face of architrave was in richly colored 
marble framed in terra cotta, the capitals and ceiling of porch being likewise developed in rich polychrome, blue predominating 


the significance in this of the materials used. The 
nature of material should be evident. This is en¬ 
forced by the principles of organic constructional 
design. The materials should retain and show the 
characteristics with which nature and necessary 
process endow them or admit applying to them 
fittingly, as in the case of paint upon wood. Manu¬ 
factured products having definitely marked char¬ 
acteristics in color enforced by essential process, 
like brick, terra cotta and various ceramics should 
hold to these qualities of coloring and those which 
the mind will instinctively recognize as appro- 


for observance. Before attempting any outline of 
the further principles of use to be observed there 
remains the fundamental matter of appreciating 
the meaning of the term “quality” as applied to 
color, since without this no observance of the prin¬ 
ciples of harmony and contrast in the relationship 
of colors to one another enables a result satisfying 
to the cultivated aesthetic sense. As a rule profes¬ 
sional readers need no definition of the term as 
generally used in art; those who may be less famil¬ 
iar with the use of color may identify “quality” 
as “that characteristic in which unpleasant harsh- 


4 










Holy Well at Guadalupe, Mexico 

The splendid polychrome tile dome of this ancient edifice is one of many examples to be found throughout 
Mexico, mainly, however, in Puebla. Brilliant orange, green and blue coloring was employed for the dome 
and recalled in the wall and parapet features above cornice and in the tile bands framing the plain wall sur¬ 
faces below 


5 




ness and crudity are not only avoided, but the 
effects produced are attended with a positive charm 
not readily described. Perhaps the word sym¬ 
pathy may express it. This quality may be 
found in colors of the strongest brilliance and 
carrying power as well as in tints of the subtlest 
delicacy.”* The term may also denote the qualifi¬ 
cation of one color toward the characteristics of 
another. Broadly, however, it refers to the char¬ 
acteristic which gives any color an appeal to the 
cultivated aesthetic sense. 

Recognition of what constitutes “quality” in 


course of landscape sketching in color pursued sys¬ 
tematically through later practice as many archi¬ 
tects indeed do for recreation, would go far to 
equipping the designer with that sensitive appre¬ 
ciation of qualities, tones and values of color which 
would vivify his creations with the color quality 
they sometimes do not possess. Close study of the 
extreme subtleties of nature’s color palette under 
varying conditions is the best training of the color 
sense yet afforded by any line of study, providing 
only that the follower of architecture continues to 
recognize the necessary self-assertion of the me- 



The Fulton Theatre, New York City 

Henry B. Herts, of Herts 8i Robertson, and Hugh Tallant, Architects 


Harmony and richness are well exemplified in the treatment o 
out excepting the painted panel under cornice which is in colore* 
ly colored glass Mosaic. Diaper pattern of walls is developed ii 
tions of lattice, this blue being recalled in the brackets, soffit and 
a consistent use of material in a color 


a single shade unrelated to other colors is 
the first essential to realizing it in a com¬ 
plex of many colors occurring in the terms of 
a design. Both in his scholastic training and sub¬ 
sequent practice the architect is obliged, however, 
to work largely in black and white and this does 
not tend to his visualizing in terms of color. A 


* From an article by the writer in The Architectural 
Record of January, 1907. 


: this building. The material used was terra cotta through- 
L cemettt, and the reveals of arched doorways which are in high- 
1 deep amber yellow and ivory with blue spots at the intersec- 
fret ornament of thfe cornice. The design illustrates splendidly 
scheme of the most positive character 

diums of the latter art, considered as material, and 
does not allow his point of view in that relation to 
be swamped by the painter’s disregard of it in real¬ 
izing the effects of pictorial composition. An 
analogy to this exists in the respective problems of 
presentation encountered by the painter and the 
sculptor. One works from the standpoint of simu¬ 
lating form and the other from the standpoint of 
actually realizing it. The architect, like the 


6 

























POLYCHROME TREATMENT.OF TERRA COTTA, FULTON THEATRE, NEW YORK CITY 
HENRY B. HERTS AND HUGH TALLANT, ARCHITECTS 
For Illustration of this Building see issue of September 13 


THE AMERICAN ARCHITECT 

































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sculptor, must realize in tangible form and must 
preserve this expression against any tendency to 
obscure this in the application of color which the 
aims of the painter might entail. 

Form Should Remain Dominant 

This brings ns to the second principle in an 
intelligent use of color in architecture — that 
form must remain 
dominant and col¬ 
oration emphasize 
and sustain this 
dominance. Here 
an analogy may 
best be drawn 
from the problem 
of the mural paint¬ 
er in properly pre¬ 
serving the sense 
of wall surface 
and not making- 
holes of his wall 
panels. The mural 
decorations 
of Puvis de Cha- 
vannes illustrate 
the complete ob¬ 
servance of this 
principle in their 
masterly subordi¬ 
nation to the re¬ 
quirements of sur¬ 
face. and architec¬ 
tural form. 

It is in this 
point that much of 
what has been 
written casually on 
the subject in re¬ 
lation to architec¬ 
ture proceeds 
eventually up a 
side track and 
halts dead against 
the bumper of an 
inflexible formula. 

We have it that 
color should not be 
employed upon supporting members as its use tends 
to obscure form and destroy the sense of support¬ 
ing function. In any proper understanding of 
the term “color” how is its use to be avoided in 
these members? Color is everywhere with us in 
every material used and on the theory propounded 
a brick pier conveys no sense of support and the 
use by the late Stanford White of richly colored 
granite for the columns of the portico of the Madi¬ 
son Square Presbyterian Church in Hew York was 
a chromatic misapplication. Theories are useful 
when they are the servants and not masters of 


thought and action. All we can safely deduce in 
this relation is the general principle that the choice 
and application of colors must not tend to destroy 
the sense of support where it should remain evi¬ 
dent. Just what use of color will or will not do 
so in a given instance remains for the eye to deter¬ 
mine by trial. It is easy to conceive that contrast¬ 
ing colors applied horizontally to a column would 

so break its verti¬ 
cal continuity of 
appearance as to 
destroy the sense 
of its mass and 
supporting func¬ 
tion when a verti¬ 
cal use of the same 
colors might not 
do so. Also that 
the use of a single 
pronounced dark 
color for a detach¬ 
ed column against 
a background of 
the same color 
might so lose the 
column to sight 
that the surmount- 
ing entablature 
would be left hang¬ 
ing in the air. 

The first step 
should be a color 
sketch for the ef¬ 
fect in ensemble of 
the whole building. 
This should pre¬ 
cede final scale 
drawings and full 
size details. Some 
architects find a 
colored cardboard 
model preferable. 
It is also best to 
have d u p 1 i c ate 
plaster casts made 
of certain full size 
models of impor- 
t a n t detail and 
work out the color scheme to finality on these. This 
involves very little extra expense to the architect 
and is highly desirable as color may have to 
be intensified in the full size to approximate 
the relational effects indicated in the small 
scale model or drawing, delicate indications 
in the latter sufficing in its small scale but becom¬ 
ing senemic if matched in full size. Coloring of 
full size casts when employed can be with tempera 
or ordinary oil paints but in all such cases a series 
of colored terra cotta samples in the form of small 
tile blocks should be pt hand for approximating the 



“Assumption of the Virgin” Altar piece in enameled terra cotta by Andrea 
Della Robbia, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City 

An example of Andrea’s work now in America. The heads of the Virgin, 
one cherub and three of the standing figures are modern restorations. 
These restorations suggest the ready possibility of approximating the 
splendid effects of original Robbia sculpture in modern terra cotta. The 
coloring of this example is the characteristic use of white figures on a 
blue ground with touches of other color in the minor details 


T 














qualities of color obtainable under ceramic process. 
Where effect of full glaze instead of matt finish is 
desired this may be accomplished by varnishing 
afterward. 

It also remains for the eye to determine by trial 
the effectiveness of color relations upon form as 
these may occur in frieze, pediment, cornice, 

architrave and all other elements of structural de¬ 
sign. Similarly the theory of complementary 

colors and their mutually 
enhancing effect is a re¬ 

source to be employed with¬ 
in the broad reservation 
that what constitutes taste 
and will yield that jeal¬ 
ously cherished objective, 

“safety” of design in its 
visual aspect, is something 
that no rule can assure. 

There can be no progress 
however if timidity is to 
rule in this regard. With 
the wealth of successful pre¬ 
cedent existing in the lav¬ 
ish use of polychromy by 
the ancient Greeks, the rich 
resources for inspiration 
also to be found in the 
terra cotta architecture of 
Renaissance Italy, not to 
mention the ceramics of 
Moresque Spain and the 
superb instances of oriental 
tile work in Persia it is dif¬ 
ficult to see why a more con¬ 
fident and widespread em¬ 
ployment of color has not 
been attempted in contem¬ 
porary architecture. The 
materials exist in the re¬ 
sources of modern manu¬ 
facture in very much 
broader degree and public 
acceptance of the result is 
merely a matter of its 
familiar presence. 

Unity of Chromatic 
Ensemble 

Unity is another funda¬ 
mental principle in suc¬ 
cessful color design. Such 
an application of color as 
would tend to destroy the 
appearance of structural 
function would, of course, 
violate the requirements of 
formal design however the 
use of color might hold to¬ 
gether as mere chromatic 


composition. Considered in the latter relation 
purely, unity may be assured either by the pro¬ 
portional dominance of some one shade to which 
all others are consistently keyed in subordination 
or the result may be obtained by a distribution of 
two or more colors that combine in a textural pres¬ 
entation as one color of some generally prevailing 
cast. Of this latter character are the turquoise 
appearing domes of certain Persian Mosques which 
are really in polychrome tile 
of intricate pattern. In 
polychrome schemes this 
principle of coloring for the 
field masses carries better 
assurance of unity than a 
preponderant mass of per¬ 
fectly plain color broken 
only at wide intervals by 
units of design in other col¬ 
ors which recall themselves 
by repetition. Here there 
is introduced the chance 
that too wide separation or 
the differing qualities of va- 
rious materials may not 
hang well together, and will 
tend to dissect the design. 
A design embodying the use 
of terra cotta panels in mar¬ 
ble, stone or brick walls will 
hold together perfectly if 
well done while uses of trim 
differing markedly from 
wall surfaces both in color 
and texture are, of course, 
customary and achieve the 
same result. In fact, such 
differences may be neces¬ 
sary to avoid monotony and 
properly express structural 
design but in general it will 
be found true that in poly¬ 
chrome schemes unity is 
best realized by carrying 
the colors used in poly¬ 
chrome ornament through¬ 
out the field also in some 
degree or manner duly sub¬ 
ordinating their appearance 
there to the prevailing mass 
shade and to the focal points 
in their use occurring in the 
features of polychrome or¬ 
nament. Sometimes this may 
transpire in the normal va¬ 
riations of the mass of field 
color occurring in the shade 
of each unit, as with cer¬ 
tain kinds of brick, natural 
stones, marble, and terra 



Edison Shop, 473 Fifth Avenue, New York City 
Shape Sc Bready, Architects 

This building is on the whole a most notable and suc¬ 
cessful instance of polychrome coloring. The window 
opening features are developed richly in gold with 
polychrome treatment focusing in the frieze above, 
and space under the projecting eaves. Material is 
terra cotta and would have exhibited a more consistent 
use of this medium had the arched entrance been con¬ 
ceived less in the spirit appropriate for stone design 


























Detail, Administration Building, Essex County Park Commission, Newark, N.J. 


H. Van Buren Magonigle, Architect 

Seal brown Terra Cotta with variegated rug texture brick, buff to purple. Frieze, painted canvas decoration by Edith 
Magonigle in deep blue, black and gold. Ceramic treatment is preferable for such features where not protected, 

as in this instance, by widely projecting eaves 


9 

































cotta, which recall corresponding shades in the or¬ 
namental features occasioned by shadow. Again, as 
with terra cotta, when this is used for ashlar as 
well as ornamental detail, it may be had through 
many of the varieties of mottled finish obtainable 
in terra cotta whereby the colors, or some one pre¬ 
vailing tint among them, may be carried through 
the field in this way. As a treatment such mot¬ 
tling partakes of the character of the brush work 
employed in the school of painting popularly 
known as “impressionistic” and exemplified in the 
paintings of Claude Monet and the American 
Painter Cliilde Hassam. 

Much the same distributive effect occurs in the 
black and white mottlings of various stones, gran¬ 
ite particularly, and it is doubtless this considera¬ 
tion which to some degree dictates the tendency of 
many architects to demand imitations of granite in 
terra cotta. Color mottlings more distinctively 
ceramic can be had however in terra cotta and ad¬ 
mit a richer interest than that of black and white 
or their blending into sombre gray effect. 

Obviously it will be recognized that mere phys¬ 
ical distribution of color alone in this or any 



Entrance in polychrome terra cotta, Children’s Hospital, 

San Francisco, California 
Bliss SC Faville, Architects 

This doorway illustrates a very free adaptation of Della Robbian 
precedent. The colors used are light and dark creams with white 
for relief, against backgrounds of buff, with touches of red in the 
dentils. Background of figure panel, gray green. Twisted columns, 
twisted molding in arch and discs of frieze, green. No attempt 
appears to have been made to hold literally to the customary use and 
distribution of color found in original Della Robbian terra cotta work. 
The latter is almost wholly in bright enamels, the art of producing 
matt finished enamels here used being then unknown 



The Chalif Studios, 163 West 57th Street, New York City 
G. A. SC H. Boehm, Architects 

This building is an example of a very successful polychrome treat¬ 
ment. The base is South Dover marble of an ivory shade, the walls 
above being manganese brick in warm gray with architraves, panel¬ 
ing and frieze of polychrome terra cotta treated in ivory, golden 
yellow, soft sienna red and light green. Relief in the main is very 
flat. The whole ensemble is in beautiful harmony illustrating 
admirable restraint and an appreciation of subtle values 

repetitive way will not hold a chromatic result 
together if the colors employed are out of key with 
each other. The relationship of individual color 
notes and masses of color to each other in what 
may be called the octaves of composition has to be 
considered and nothing struck out of key. 

Harmony and Richness 

With unity assured the fullest chromatic 
richness becomes possible without offense to 
the eye or the most conservative aesthetic taste. 
What offends is not brilliance and richness of color¬ 
ing. It is harshness and lack of harmony. An 
oriental rug may carry the splendors of an Ara- 


10 






























































bian treasure chest in amethyst, ruby and sap¬ 
phire coloring yet take its place perfectly without 
clash in any soberly quiet interior. So may the 
front of a building in the grayest of conservative 
city streets. 

Harmony as a basic requirement is necessarily 
bound up with any unity of effect and in the use 
of pure and unqualified colors is a matter of well 
defined law. As the finest relations in this re¬ 
spect occur in the joint use of intermediate and 
qualified shades no set rules can be formulated as 
to colors which will and will not harmonize when 
placed together. Harmony is a complex result and 
proportionate use for one thing plays a great part 
in it. Beyond saying that colors must exhibit con¬ 
sistent “quality” it is impossible to say what will 
and will not harmonize among them. I know of 
no two colors which cannot be so qualified in char¬ 
acter that, while still justifying their original 
designations, they cannot be made to harmonize, 
even such unlikely combinations as brown and pink. 

In general it is well however for uses of color 
to proceed conservatively in the employment of a 
few simple shades of familiar harmonious quality 
until mastery of more complex relations has been 
obtained through eye practice but we should dis¬ 
miss at once that form of timidity which reduces 
the positiveness of coloring to washed out versions 
of colors in the hope that their weakness will avoid 
offense and give a “safe” result. The most senemic 
version of any color in the palette may exhibit a 
harsh and unpleasing quality. In water color, for 
instance, a raw harsh blue will remain a raw harsh 
blue, dilute it with water as we may. 

In this connection, atmosphere and sunlight are 
often good friends to a composition reflecting these 
characteristics. The carrying power of certain 
colors as appearing in samples of material at close 
hand will often be found to vary widely under 
these influences, tending in the main toward reduc¬ 
tion of intensity, as in the case of blues at a height 
and the mellowing and pulling of all together into 
agreeable harmony. 


Application of Color to Ornament 

In general it will be found that polychromatic 
treatment of ornament admits, and in most 
cases, makes preferable, a lower relief model¬ 
ing than would be advisable for the same 
form if executed in monochrome. In the 
latter, shadow must be relied upon to define pattern 
to greater or less degree. With a colored back¬ 
ground relief ornament is thrown into definition 
by color contrast mainly. The presence of too 
much shadow blending with the usually darker 
color of the background tends to soften and in 
some cases obliterate definiteness of pattern. It 
may also tend to obliterate form. Modeling there¬ 
fore should proceed with the view to the use of 
color contemplated, especially in a polychrome 
feature. This may involve the question also of 
separating adjoining shades of strong contrasting 
colors with a fillet, carrying the ground color be¬ 
tween them after the manner frequently pursued 
in polychrome ornament by the ancient Greeks; 
or in ceramic mediums, by raised edge termina¬ 
tions to certain spaces sufficient to arrest the flow 
of glaze in firing without showing actual separa¬ 
tion to the eye. 

Various refinements may be employed to give or 
emphasize the, significance of retreating and ad¬ 
vancing surfaces. It is a well known axiom of the 
painters’ studios that “indoors, lights are cool and 
shadows warm; outdoors, lights warm and shadows 
cool.” The application to problems of exterior 
and interior color treatment in architecture is evi¬ 
dent. Similarly adjoining masses of color may be 
made to assume greater or less degrees of warmth 
by contrast of qualities in this regard. They may 
even be given an appearance of a different cast of 
coloring, a vivid spot of red, for instance, which is 
the complement of green, intensifying the latter or 
imparting a greenish cast to an adjoining 
gray. 



Dancing—Terra Cotta Frieze Panel, Boston Opera House 

Bela Pratt, Sculptor-Wheelwright Be Haven, Architects 

Color— Background, Blue Green-Figures, Ivory 


11 






Peoples Savings dc Loan Association, Sidney, Ohio 
Louis H. Sullivan, Architect 


Nowhere is the daring genius of Louis Sullivan more strikingly shown than in his employment of brilliant polychrome color¬ 
ing in the housing of a financial institution. The same decision with which mass and line have been handled characterizes the 
use of color. Orange and brown Terra Cotta in trim and parapet culminating in mottled gold glaze window frames and mot¬ 
tled green glaze ornament of entrance combine with the brick in an effect of great richness. An appropriate feeling of rugged 
massive structural strength dominates this positive use of color in a degree wholly consistent with the requirements of good 

architecture and the institution’s purpose 


Available Mediums 

I N considering the various mediums which may 
be used to express color in the form of poly¬ 
chromatic design clay products are the most 
prolific in yielding resources for the most varied 
treatment. Under this heading we have many beau-, 
tiful shades of brick carrying a number of interest¬ 
ing surface textures, ceramic tile in a multiplicity 
of glazes and decorative designs, several shades in 
glazed and unglazed roofing tile and faience and 
architectural terra cotta in a great variety of sur¬ 
face finishes, textures and colors, both glazed and 
unglazed. All may be used together and in conjunc¬ 
tion with certain stones and highly colored marbles 
in effects of the most sumptuous richness. Ex¬ 
cepting in terra cotta the use of any one medium 
alone for complete color effect carries a chance 
of inorganic formal expression as there are fea¬ 
tures in design and ornament not possible to real¬ 
ize in brick nor in tile owing to the small and 
uniform character of their unit construction and 
consequent scheme of jointing. In tile the color 
range is very wide but its essential character as a 
veneer forbids its use to express organic construc¬ 
tion in form. Terra cotta is not subject to this 


limitation as it may take the form of veneer or be 
produced in the special shapes, sizes and modelled 
relief essential for organic constructional expres¬ 
sion. Diaper patterns, for instance, in uniform 
pieces of about twelve inches or greater dimension 
may be employed for the field of wall surfaces giv¬ 
ing a tile veneer effect and can be combined with 
architraves, pilaster, cornice, bracket, and sculp¬ 
tural ornamentation in the great variety of form 
in which these elements occur in various styles. 
Owing to this flexibility for formal expression the 
use of terra cotta for practically the entire finish 
of a fagade becomes possible without carrying the 
feeling of a too wholesale use of one material or a 
use which does violence to its nature in certain 
parts of the design. 

The Interest of Color Variation 

N considering the uses admitted by the very 
wide range of colors and textures obtainable in 
terra cotta the natural tendency of all ceramic 
products to exhibit a certain variation of shade oc¬ 
curring in the process of firing should be recog¬ 
nized as one of the greatest sources of charm avail¬ 
able for interesting chromatic effect. The history 
of brick manufacture illustrates the enormous pro- 


12 

















gression in taste from the era of the uniform, 
smoothly finished, red pressed brick with its im¬ 
maculately painted white stripe joint, so lavishly 
employed in the early seventies, to the pronounced 
variation of shade, texture and uneven form of 
the most deservedly popular varieties in use to¬ 
day. In roofing- slate we have also gotten 
away from the 
smooth, uniform 
color and size once 
demanded in this 
product, and recog¬ 
nize the overpower¬ 
ing charm of the ir¬ 
regularly mottled 
weathering slate 
with broken edges 
in differing thick¬ 
nesses and sizes 
which our quarries 
are now yielding to 
the great enhance¬ 
ment of our country 
house architecture. 

Similarly in terra 
cotta and other lines 
of ceramic material 
it is to be hoped 
that the slight ec¬ 
centricities of fire 
will be allowed to 
assert themselves 
more freely and that 
the present standard 
of taste in using- 
terra cotta which 
reflects too much 
the attitude toward 
brick in the early 
seventies will yield 
to an appreciation 
of the finer possi¬ 
bilities obtained 
through exploit ing 
the natural varia¬ 
tions of color and 
slight inaccuracies 
of form incident to 
ceramic manufac¬ 
ture rather than 
wishing- to suppress 
them. When archi¬ 
tects at large will 

express their conceptions in terra cotta with 
the crisp freedom of a loosely handled 
water color in wash we may look for results 
of incalculable significance and beauty in the 
architecture of our time. 

This applies not only to effects in polychrome 
design but to schemes in which the color interest is 

13 


that of simple monochrome treatment. In the 
first chapter it was pointed out that the proper 
application of the term “color” covers the chro¬ 
matic result of the entire building and not simply 
those details which are executed in polychrome. 
As no building erected fails to present an 
aspect of color it suggests a word upon the ele¬ 
ment of form in or¬ 
namentation as con¬ 
tributing t o t h i s 
color aspect in the 
c h a racteristic of 
shadow which must 
necessarily modify 
the tonal effect. 

The choice of ma¬ 
terial determines in 
large measure the 
value and influence 
of shadow color in 
the chromatic en¬ 
semble. The varie¬ 
ties of soft stone 
commonly used in 
Spain for many of 
the most interesting 
and rich examples 
of Spanish renais¬ 
sance were of a col¬ 
or that, under the 
brilliant sunlight of 
the Spanish climate, 
glowed with an ap¬ 
pealing warmth 
casting shadows of 
a deep golden sienna 
that are in them¬ 
selves positive color 
notes of the most 
charming quality. 
Naturally such pro¬ 
fuse opulent rich¬ 
ness of ornament in 
such a medium pro¬ 
vides an interest 
both of form and 
color which does not 
need the further en¬ 
richment of applied 
polychrome coloring 
to realize a quite 
sumptuous chromat¬ 
ic quality. That 
this latter, however, occurs largely through the 
warmth of actual coloring of the stone itself is 
apparent in the fact that the golden quality of 
shadow is occasioned largely by reflected warm 
light from the parts illuminated by sunshine. 
A corresponding elaboration of carved treat¬ 
ment in a cold, gray variety of material would 


Above:—Upper part of an ancient villa near Varese, Italy 
Below:—Similar portion from an ancient villa near Sarono, 

Italy. From restorations by Federigo Lose 

Interesting examples of the use of painted polychrome decoration of the 
year 1487 A. D. Colors used were pale buff and warm putty gray for 
backgrounds, with ornament in strong reds, greens, blues, yellows and 
brown. Openings are nooks for birds to nest in. These houses had 
lapsed into an advanced stage of decay and debased use about 1867 
when restorations were made and decorations are no longer recognizable 
(From The Terra Cotta Architecture of North Italy. 

London, John Murray) 

































occasion a shadow lacking in this positive effect of 
glowing color, being apt to take on a cooler cast of 
gray emphasizing the absence rather than the pres¬ 
ence of color. Thus the nature of material must 
to some degree govern the result in counting upon 
the effect of shadow as an element of chromatic 
interest. 

It is apart from the purpose of this treatise to 
discuss the weathering of material as an element 
of color interest. Its charms in the varieties of 
products susceptible to it are altogether too well 


the conditions of local atmosphere in the greater 
part of it, the materials which are commonly avail 
able for monochrome effects do not carry the quali 
ties which produce the luminous shadow that can 
count as a distinct color note. Here again the 
great variety of warm tints obtainable in our clay 
products yields a possibility analogous to that car¬ 
ried by the soft mellow stones and marbles of Italy 
and Spain, many of the ivory and light buff shades 
in terra cotta and brick holding a wealth of shadow 
color of the most sumptuous richness. 



Loew’s State Theatre, Yakima, Wash. 
Marcus B. Priteca, Architect 


This building illustrates the possibility of obtaining effects of great richness with marked simplicity of treatment in the use 
of broad masses of plain color. Materials used, Terra Cotta and brick. This design also visualizes well in marble or lime¬ 
stone with brick and in any scheme from white to ivory or pale pink combined with gray, dark buff or old rose coloring for 

the brick pattern 


known to need description and they are moreover 
something which are not within the power of the 
architect to manipulate. They can be counted 
upon with fair certainty but must await the touch 
of the subsequent collaborator, Time. They can¬ 
not, therefore, be brought under the principles gov¬ 
erning the preparation of design in polychrome as 
commonly understood. But it would be misleading 
to infer that the possibilities of color interest rest 
entirely in the use of polychrome composition. 
While true that there is no material which does not 
present the aspect of color of some description it 
is unfortunately the case that in this country under 


Intimate Applications 
HE foregoing chapters have dealt entirely 
with the subject of exterior color in 
architecture. The chromatic treatment of in¬ 
terior design is a subject in itself which does not 
fall under the use of color as contemplated in this 
treatise. Nevertheless, materials which are used 
for exterior finish are so often applied to the 
permanent architectural features of interior spaces 
that a few words may well be added upon certain 
aspects of design ifi this field. 

The merits of our various native stones and 
American and European marbles, particularly the 



14 




















Portion of Facade, Academy of Music, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Henry B. Herts and Hugh Tallant, Architects 

Color of brick warm buff gray carried through Terra Cotta relief against backgrounds of deep yellow blue and 
green. Distribution being much broken up and associated with very full relief, the polychrome coloring serves 
mainly to enhance textural interest. Buildings so treated may soon lose the interest of chromatic variety 

owing to the obscuring action of dust deposit 


15 










































































































































Comer of Porte Cochere of a private residence on Long Island 


H. Van Buren Magonigle, Architect 

Brick, Terra Cotta, marble and roofing tile combined with notable color success. To uphold a desired intensity in the 
mass coloring of brick against the graying effect of mortar joint 8" stretchers were combined to give the effect of 
16" units in Flemish bond. Colors ranged from buff to rose, deep red and purple. Terra Cotta arch with design in 
prevailing mass shade of brick against yellow background to tie with yellow marble columns. Soffits of arch blue. Bed 
molding of cornice, Terra Cotta with blue panels. Roofing tile takes up brick coloring with addition of green. Well 

is Verona marble of rose and yellow coloring 


16 

















richer colored varieties of these, are altogether too 
well known to require more than passing mention 
as familiar resources for chromatic effects in such 
applications. To some degree this is true also of 
the better lines of cement and other composition 
finishes widely employed in various appropriate 
ways. Knowledge of technique in all these 
familiar mediums requires but little, if any, ampli¬ 
fication. But in the employment of ceramics as 
a medium for color expression there is a field of 
fresher interest which may be profitably explored 
in certain essentials not always realized in the use 
of this class of materials. 

In common with the attitude which has largely 
characterized the employment of terra cotta for 
exterior use, the demand is too often to express 
the interest of marble or stone effects in form, 
color and surface texture, rather than striking di¬ 
rectly for the equally high quality which a ceramic 
medium is capable of giving in its own way. The 
broad principles enunciated for the use of mate¬ 


rial in exterior design apply equally to interior 
work, some of them assuming very acute impor¬ 
tance under the intimacy of application and prox¬ 
imity to the eye. This fact is generally well 
appreciated and it is perhaps due to the influence 
of more familiar habit in employing color for in¬ 
terior uses in other mediums that the handling of 
it in ceramics for interior applications has been 
attended with a little more freedom and confident 
decision. In fact, certain freer uses of tile work 
have inclined too much toward the wholesale em¬ 
ployment of ceramic finish for entire interiors, 
floors, walls and ceilings, to the exclusion of the 
richer interest that might have been obtained by a 
judicious association of ceramic finish with the 
contrasting and supplemental qualities of other 
mediums. The beauty of ceramic modeling in its 
softness of contour and the free flowing plasticitv 
of design which should accompany it nowhere re¬ 
ceive a more effective foil than when intelligently 
related to the chaste purity of line, edge and sur- 



Columbia Theatre, San Francisco, Cal. 

Bliss & Faville, Architects 

Strength of conviction in the use of color and appropriate conception are well exemplified in this building. The facade is in 
Terra Cotta of a rich cream white, the ornamental features of the first story windows being lavishly treated in deep olive 
greens and blues with tracery relief in shades of old gold. The upper stories are appropriately treated in lighter shades of 

old rose, green, blue, light browns, old gold and buff. Color ensemble is well tied together and assisted by the spotted dis¬ 
tribution of color in brick pattern 


17 



























































































































Detail of market building illustrated on opposite Page 


Design is thoroughly ceramic in character, color distribution being as follows: Prevailing body color, pale ivory; large 
square units in diaper pattern, deep ivory; lattice, light green with old rose spots at intersections; oblong panel sur¬ 
faces of pilasters, light blue alternating with old rose inserts; columns, capitals, doorway architrave, paneling above 

and cornice recalling this coloring in minor detail 


18 




























































































Torrance Market Building, Los Angeles, Cal. 


Dodd 8C Richards, Architects 


One direction in which the use of polychrome coloring would confer a lasting obligation on a long suffering public. Contrast 
this dignified and attractive result in Terra Cotta and roofing tile with the usual unsightly structures for this purpose with 
which American cities are generally afflicted. For colors used see detail illustration opposite 


face finish which is the consistent attribute of 
marble. The latter used as a bordering- feature 
often enriches the opposite charm of free plasticity 
in the ornamentation of a tile field. Again the 
relation may be equally fine when reversed, the 
ceramic material being used as a border in highly 
rich ornamental relief and the enclosed space kept 
severely plain. Decorative sense in the designer 
must determine the extent or even fact in this rela¬ 
tionship rather than any fixed rule or theory. A 
scheme of design may well call for the textural in¬ 
terest of ceramic surface and jointing as an ele¬ 
ment to be carried throughout the entire wall or 
floor space in an all ceramic treatment but in gen¬ 
eral it will be found that the eye seeks relief at 
some point through the differing qualities of a dif¬ 
ferent medium and it is in this respect that the 
early European uses of material are so highly sat¬ 
isfying. The significant thing to be noted is that in 
instances where ceramics were employed they ap¬ 
pear to have enjoyed the highest measure of appre¬ 
ciation as a fitting vehicle for the most elegant 
effects in palatial treatment and that we do not 
find the gaucherie of view which regards only the 
most costly mediums as appropriate for such re¬ 
sults. It is quite clear that della Robbia worked 
in glazed clay from preference and that many of 
the applications of his brilliant genius were de¬ 
sired in his favorite medium of ordinary clay— 


common inexpensive earth coated with colored 
enamels. The fact is significant when viewing 
the resources of his time in the liberal patronage 
of princely houses amply able to pay for use of 
the most expensive mediums for sculptural and 
decorative effect. 

That this attitude did not apply merely to 
individual works of art in which the concept of the 
sculptor or painter was everything and the me¬ 
dium used of minor consequence is evident from 
the many applications of della Robbian faience to 
purely architectural uses in the finish of ceilings 
like that of the Chapel of the Madonna in the 
Impruneta and various tabernacles, ornamental 
friezes, etc. While these instances were usually 
of minor extent this was due clearly to the fact 
that the knowledge of how to apply colored 
enamels to architectural forms rested wholly with 
a family group of individual craftsmen not enjoy¬ 
ing- the facilities for extensive production in this 
direction. Otherwise we may be sure that the 
wonderful resources of their art would have been 
used to beautify extensively both the interiors and 
exteriors of many of the noblest structures of the 
time. This is borne out by the fact that contem¬ 
porary Italian architecture of the period exhibited 
a widespread use of terra cotta lavishly colored 
with impermanent pigments which naturally 
would not have been employed if permanent glazes 
had been commonly available. 


19 





















Precedent and Initiative 
HE della Robbia family and their imme¬ 
diate successors did not know bow to pro¬ 
duce a matt surface glaze, much less one 
having any textural interest. This circumstance 
suggests another aspect in the resources of modern 
ceramics for appropriate finish which are open 
to the architect today. All the examples of the 
della Robbian school are in smooth bright 
enamels having a glassy sheen which tends 
to obscure form by its reflecting action, par¬ 
ticularly in its susceptibility to glittering 
high lights. The original enamels of Luca della 


Robbia were somewhat softer in this respect than 
those of his successors but still embodied this draw¬ 
back to the most satisfying expression. Had Luca 
known how to saturate his glaze compounds with 
elements producing a minute crystallization of the 
surface which eliminates the glitter he would cer¬ 
tainly have turned to this resource with the most 
unbounded enthusiasm. It is in this develop¬ 
ment that modern ceramics present a medium sur¬ 
passing that employed by della Robbia. In mod¬ 
ern terra cotta and tile matt as well as bright 
glazes are freely obtainable and in surface tex¬ 
tures of the greatest charm. Added to this are 




Altar in Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, Newark, Hughes & Horton, Architects 
executed in polychrome Terra Cotta, Mosaic and painted decoration 


20 













the very much greater range and variety of colors 
which the modern ceramic chemist has developed. 
With this increased facility for harmonious ex¬ 
pression the matter of equal or superior results 
reduces itself to the quality of the architect’s de¬ 
sign and sculptor’s modeling and is not a matter 
of rediscovering the secret of “a lost art” or of a 
medium of comparable excellence. 

The very much greater range of possibility in 
ceramics now offered the designer suggests an¬ 
other point very vi¬ 
tal to the appro¬ 
priate and signifi¬ 
cant use of color in 
modern applications 
and one that applies 
whether the mate¬ 
rial be ceramics or 
any medium that 
may be employed 
for polychrome de¬ 
sign. 

Allusion has been 
made to the ample 
precedent which ex¬ 
ists in the practice 
not only of the early 
Italians but of the 
ancient Greeks. It 
is natural that in 
any use of the clas¬ 
sical orders, partic¬ 
ularly the pure 
Greek, we should 
turn to the bright 
colors and shades of 
colors employed by 
the Greeks and ap¬ 
ply them in the 
same way. Any use 
of the correspond¬ 
ing black, dull and 
bright reds, blues, 
brilliant yellow, 
gold and pure white 
should hold with 
certainty to the method of distribution which 
modern research has established as characteristic 
of polychrome expression in Greek architecture. 
In fact, it is reasonably certain that the use of 
coloring was so studied and brought to such a state 
of final perfection in its technique that no depar¬ 
ture in the use of corresponding colors could safely 
be made. But there is this very significant and 
vital factor to be remembered. Such perfection 
of color technique must have rested inevitably 
upon the precise shades in coloring which the 
chemical knowledge of the ancient Greeks admitted 
producing. A virile strong race naturally found 
satisfaction in the use of positive strong colors and 


if not indisposed was at any rate unable to develop 
in the necessary mediums the wide gamut of subtle 
intermediate variations of color obtainable under 
the resources of more advanced chemical knowl¬ 
edge. Greek vase painting, for instance, ex¬ 
hibits none of the chromatic variety of ancient 
Chinese porcelains or Persian tile work nor do we 
find that the art of glazing their terra cotta ex¬ 
tended beyond a process and result that more 
properly resembles burnishing. It is an 

interesting question 
what the Greeks 
would have done 
had they possessed 
facilities for the 
production of ce¬ 
ramic glazes in the 
wide range of va¬ 
rious colors and in¬ 
termediate shades of 
colors that exist to¬ 
day. Is it not prob¬ 
able that a race of 
such wonderful 
aesthetic sensibility 
would have quickly 
seized upon such re¬ 
sources and if their 
use of colors in re¬ 
lation to form was 
influenced, as it 
must have been, by 
the characteristics of 
those colors, would 
they not necessarily 
have employed the 
differing colors and 
shades of a very 
much wider palette 
in a different way ? 
One can scarcely 
conceive that they 
would not have used 
them at all and that 
the only shades they 
would have employ¬ 
ed were precisely and identically the ones they 
did. They would have used electric light and 
changed their fixtures quickly enough if they 
had known how; and in the use of color who shall 
say that the road is not open to the modern archi¬ 
tect to associate successfully the differing colors 
admitted by a modern palette with Greek or other 
classical ornament in a manner which the ancient 
Greeks would have accepted as perfectly satisfy¬ 
ing? The possibility, of course, rests in an 
imagination gifted enough to do it successfully 
within the immutable principles which govern 
form in Greek art. 

Correspondingly a slavish adherence to Persian, 



Detail of upper stories, Woolworth Building, New York City 
Cass Gilbert, Architect 

Color interest focuses mainly in the relation of cream colored Terra Cotta 
seen against the green and gold copper of main roofs and termination of 
spire, polychrome accent touches being carried through the Terra Cot; a 
tracery to interlace these masses in the upper stories 


21 










Arabic, or early Italian precedent in the use of 
color is nowhere enjoined by the facts of history 
or dictates of sound taste, admitting that in a 
repetition of any of these motives in design the 
law of association in mental process calls for a 
substantial adherence to the familiar chromatic 
aspects of such design for satisfaction of the mind 
in its sense of consistency. Beyond that there 
is no necessary bar to initiative. 

A suitable palette of colors for application to 
architectural form 
is therefore not lim¬ 
ited to any chro¬ 
matic scale dictated 
by precedent. It 
preferably should 
include those tints 
and shades which 
have been employed 
in the best architec¬ 
ture of the past, but 
may confidently in¬ 
clude varieties and 
interests of texture 
not among those 
known or available 
in former periods. 

Modern ceramics 
already offer these 
in an astonishing- 
range of very beau¬ 
tiful effects. In 
fact, the interest of 
technique occasion¬ 
ally suffers through 
a control which 
eliminates much of 
the charm arising 
from the more 
primitive processes 
employed in early 
European and Ori¬ 
ental ceramics. On 
the other hand, the 
compensating advantage of much broader chro¬ 
matic scope and extent of application together with 
the facilities for obtaining material with the re¬ 
quisite speed for modern building operations 
could hardly be foregone for the satisfactions of 
more primitive charm. It is only in certain rare 
effects of luster in Hispano-Moresque and early 
Italian maiolicas and the superb porcelain glazes 
of ancient China that the modern ceramist has 
yet failed to excel technically in his production of 
material suitable for architectural application. 
The range of colors obtainable, for instance, in 
architectural terra cotta is given in the appendix 
and need not be elaborated here beyond say¬ 
ing that the laboratory formulas of the modern 
American manufacturer contain an infinite variety 


of each one of the colors enumerated in the ap¬ 
pendix, in consistent gradations of these which can 
be supplied commercially and that the range is 
constantly expanding under further experiment. 
There is no need for the designer to depart from 
the obtainable varieties for any effect consistent 
with the nature of a ceramic medium, the prob¬ 
lem in its practical commercial aspect consisting 
rather in the designer’s appreciation of the fact that 
sumptuous richness can be achieved with a compar¬ 
atively simple range 
of colors and a con¬ 
sistent employment 
of the warn and 
cool varieties of 
each color. But the 
attempt should not 
be made to express 
these in a working- 
design without ref¬ 
erence t o ceramic 
samples illustrating 
the qualities of col¬ 
oring resulting from 
the nature of ceram¬ 
ic process. Thesej 
it should also be 
remembered, occur 
from the action of 
chemical compounds 
subjected to a ter¬ 
rific heat for their 
development and 
this precludes mi¬ 
croscopic uniform¬ 
ity of shade among 
the units produced 
in any one pre¬ 
scribed color. Cer¬ 
tain composite col¬ 
ors should also not 
be expected from 
the compounding of 
other colors which 
would yield these in the mixture of ordinary pig¬ 
ments. Distributive applications of one color over 
another or blending into another with this view, 
should therefore not be attempted in design with¬ 
out prior consultation with the manufacturer. 

Both in tile and terra cotta as well as in the 
special developments in the latter which are prop¬ 
erly known as faience, the color palette offered 
the architect today is ample for all purposes whose 
attainment can be reasonably desired. Ho dif¬ 
ficulty exists in this direction where the desire is 
not to torture out effects of coloring that belong 
properly to other mediums. It is not reasonable 
to hand a manufacturer of ceramics a piece of 
silk and say “match this” or to expect the same 
duplication from a piece of wall paper, wood, 



Altar in polychrome Terra Cotta for Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, 
Newark, N. J. 

Hughes SC Horton, Architects 


22 













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ai *, i ; <i£* ? #'0 tMtM # \ 

li m ;« m m m m m >4 hi mm n it m m m m m 

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Tff 


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V*^* <„■“.%* •> V^t'^ *‘ <l 'V;\ v^v*■'"»%«• vy**,* »v«am ** 


DETAILS OF PRIVATE HOUSE AT BRESCIA, ITALY. FROM THE 
RESTORATIONS OF LOSE 


ARCHITECT UNKNOWN 

(From The Terra Cotta Architecture of Northern Italy) 

Evidently one of the finest examples of painted polychrome decoration in cement and terra cotta. This frag¬ 
ment is no longer available for first hand study. Note the charmingly harmonious shades of warm gray and 
the beautiful suggestion for modern ceramic treatment in low relief 


THE AMERICAN ARCHITECT 











































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United States Post Office, St. Petersburg, Florida 
James A. Wetmore, Architect 

Buildings of this character present unusual opportunity for elfective color treatment. This example illustrates the successful 
adaptation of Italian precedent in a thoroughly modern treatment. Material is ivory Terra Cotta in low relief, enriched with 
light blue, yellow and green. Ceiling of the loggia is consistently treated in polychrome, blue predominating 


stone, marble or other substance when the material 
to be used is clay and when almost no color pre¬ 
sented by any other substance fails to find a cor¬ 
responding equivalent as color in the ceramic 
medium associated with a distinctive quality pecul¬ 
iar to the ceramic medium and constituting its 
essential dignity. The 
fact that the producers 
of ceramics have suc¬ 
ceeded in many in¬ 
stances in successfully 
matching the charac¬ 
teristics of other ma¬ 
terials under an en¬ 
forced demand for this 
result in nowise 
changes the fact that 
the sincere designer 
will always prefer to 
use a material frankly 
for what it is and has 
ample resources for 
satisfaction in the pro¬ 
fuse variety of effects 
which modern ceramic 
production now af¬ 
fords. 

A word may be add¬ 
ed in this connection 
respecting the exceed¬ 
ingly interesting pos¬ 
sibilities offered by 
ceramics for pictorial 
mural decoration. 

Aside from the beauti¬ 
ful results in mosaic 
which are commonly 


familiar the possibilities of this in tile treatment 
are not as well understood as they might be. De¬ 
mand in this direction has exhibited on the whole 
a somewhat curious lack of appreciation of the 
immense dignity of effect obtainable, with certain 
rare exceptions having inclined toward common¬ 
place concepts, and a 
whole chapter might 
well be written on this 
subject which pertains 
rather to that of in¬ 
terior decoration than 
the architectural use of 
color in a broad sense. 
Faience in the natural 
medium where particu- 
1 a r subtleties in col¬ 
or relationships and 
technique generally are 
beyond the customary 
process in both terra 
cotta and commercial 
tile production, involv¬ 
ing the use of lower 
fired glazes and a 
greater expenditure of 
hand labor, time and 
cost than is possible in 
the bulk production of 
material for custom- 
ary building work. 
The expense is also 
necessarily greater and 
the extent of applica¬ 
tion therefore limited 
to opportunities rela- 
lively unfrequent, 





Terra Cotta Filling Station for Atlantic Refining Company, 
Philadelphia, Pa. 

W. J. Wilkins, Architect 

While treatment in this instance is monochrome it is easy to visual¬ 
ize buildings of this character in color. Not only does Classic pre¬ 
cedent warrant the brilliant enrichment of detail in this style but 
the purposes of such a structure and the essentially modern activ¬ 
ity it is designed to serve admit the widest latitude in the choice 
of architectural style and play of fancy in chromatic enrichment. 
With landscape accessories the filling station could be made an 
attractive beauty spot and an important element in municipal planning 

23 





















Temple B’nai Jeshurun, Newark, N. J. 

Albert S. Gottlieb, Architect 

An interesting example of the intermingling of burnt clay products of varying textures and color. Materials, unglazed 
tile and Terra Cotta in varying shades of brown, with altarof marble 


24 












































but in the wider use of color which will give 
our architecture at large a more pronounced 
and appealing chromatic interest the materials 
available for use are generally well within the 
bounds of cost admitted by our prevailing condi¬ 
tions. 

Finally it may be said that notwithstanding 


the rapid strides which our architecture has made 
away from the lifeless uniformity of the “brown- 
stone age” the resources for color treatment as they 
exist in all our native materials have hardly been 
scratched and that an opportunity of the utmost 
promise awaits a talent that will make the most 
of it. 



Tower of the,Hecksher Building, New York,City 
Warren fit Wetmore, Architects 


Polychrome treatment in the design of the modern skyscraper has inclined toward detail enrich¬ 
ment of the upper stories in the typical manner shown by this example. Brick is a warm gray, 
this color being carried through terra cotta in lighter and darker shades which serve chiefly to em¬ 
phasize the richness of ornamental detail rather than carry as positive chromatic composition. This 
result is apt to follow in any broken up use of pale shades at a corresponding height from the eye. 

View in this instance is taken from the roof of an opposite building 


25 

























Detail of Terra Cotta modeling in arched windows of the Ospedale Maggoire, Milan 


The irregularities of finish in burnt clay frankly accepted by the early Italians are nowhere better illustrated than in 
this instance. Note the soft contours and irregular edges and jointing. The modeling expresses perfectly the plastic 
nature of a clay medium under the direct touch of the hand. Coloring is also the natural result of the firing in its 
variations, which range from red to golden brown, burnt orange and sienna. This work was executed about the year 

1456 A. D. and is still standing 


26 








APPROPRIATE TECHNIQUE 



S UPPLEMENTING the foregoing chapters, 
a word should be added upon certain 
aspects of technique in the use of the clay 
products which today offer the principal 
opportunity for color expression. 


mechanical rigidity entirely antithetic to the 
feeling of a yielding clay reduced to intense 
hardness by the freely playing action of 
flame. 


Clay becomes usable for building purposes 
only after it has pass¬ 
ed through a firing 
process reducing it to 
the necessary hard¬ 
ness. In this process 
all perishable sub¬ 
stance in the clay is 
consumed and as the 
latter is a natural 
product, however re¬ 
fined by preparatory 
treatment, irregulari¬ 
ties of form are bound 
to occur in the shrink¬ 
age resulting from 
this consumption. 

From what has been 
already said about va¬ 
riations of color simi¬ 
larly occurring, this 
corresponding formal 
limitation should be 
frankly accepted as 
belonging to the very 
nature of things in a 
ceramic product. Con¬ 
sistency in the use of 
such a medium re¬ 
quires that its nature 
in all points should 
be regarded, and col¬ 
oring which is frankly 
ceramic demands form 
which is frankly ce¬ 
ramic. Similarly the 
quality of modeling in ornamental design should 
be that naturally yielded by the nature of wet clay 
before being dried and burnt. Wet clay cannot 
be chiseled and given the sharp edges of a finely 
grained marble or stone. The rigid character 
which is inseparable from the carving of a hard 
resisting substance has no place in the modeling 
of one which yields with the most plastic freedom 
to the touch of the bare hand. Yet we- find every¬ 
where a demand that modeling in a product like 
terra cotta shall be finished “sharp and true,” the 
result being that it often presents an aspect of 


The same applies to the results commonly 
demanded in jointing and alignment. An exami¬ 
nation of the terra cot¬ 
ta work of the early 
Italians shows that they 
took their material as 
the kilns gave it to 
them, neither worry¬ 
ing about the frank 
presence of the neces¬ 
sary jointing nor seek¬ 
ing to reduce this to 
mechanical accuracy 
through grinding or 
other arbitrary treat¬ 
ment of the fired 
pieces. The result was 
that while their align¬ 
ments and curves were 
to some extent broken 
and irregular the ef¬ 
fect, when associated 
with a consistently 
free treatment of mo¬ 
deling, exhibits all the 
charm of a freely han¬ 
dled crayon drawing 
and it is this spirit 
which is appropriate 
to design in a clay ma¬ 
terial both in the treat¬ 
ment of form and the 
handling of color. On 
a previous page refer¬ 
ence was made to the 
feeling of a loosely 
handled water color in 
wash and this we do not commonly associ¬ 
ate in rendering with the tight precision of 
nicely finished pen drawing for the expres¬ 
sion of line and form, much less any em¬ 
bodying use of the ruler and compass in the final 
touch. Clay mediums, in other words, present a 
possibility of realizing in actual construction the 
charm of free hand feeling which is often the 
compelling interest in a rendering—one that not 
uncommonly captures the imagination of the 
client (and sometimes a jury). We all know 
what a highly artistic drawing may convey in 


Detail from an ancient Italian villa illustrating free treatment of 
Terra Cotta in line, form and finish, these qualities occurring 
naturally in the manufacture. Color is red, unglazed. The 
somewhat similar modern application shown on page 33 affords 
an interesting study of comparative effect in these points 


27 


comparison with the coldly realized actuality of 
its execution in a building it is aimed to por¬ 
tray. 

In this connection, some of our most accom¬ 
plished architects have gone to extreme pains to 
secure in executed work results reflecting all the 


what will result under fire action has been largely 
eliminated. In chemical structure and the com¬ 
pounding of materials a similar certainty of 
command has likewise been achieved. In the 
manufacture of terra cotta, for instance, it has 
been found that by grinding and adding to the 



Detail of entrance, Clawson School, Oakland, California 
J. J. Donovan, Architect 

Illustrating a flat treatment of Terra Cotta in mottled gray matt glaze. (Design is equally appropriate for polychrome 


charm of early primitive process in various appli¬ 
cations of tile and terra cotta. The difliculty that 
has been met in this respect has lain chiefly in 
the fact that technical improvement in all lines 
of ceramic production has resulted in bringing 
these mediums to the point where uncertainty in 


raw unfired clay a certain proportion of fired 
clay the unequal'shrinkage formerly encountered 
in firing is largely overcome and the ware can 
be given a truer form and more even size than 
were formerly obtainable. Larger pieces can 
also be made, and in other respects a correspond- 


28 


































































































Wetzel Building, New York City 

Hill Si Stout, Architects 


This well known example embodies detail treatment well repaying study. Poly¬ 
chrome interest has been closely associated with that of very rich textural 
charm in the brick and plastic hand made freedom of unglazed Terna Cotta 
ornament. Varying shades of soft golden brown in these materials are further 
set off by richly colored polychrome accents in glazed tile. This tile also 
exhibits the free, hand made quality of early ceramics 


29 


















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Typical details of Terra Cotta construction in projecting cornice features. Projections like these can be considerably reduced if 
well conceived color treatment is adopted, thus minimizing the use of anchoring and supporting devices and reducing the cost 

(Reproduced from “Architectural Terra Cotta Standard Construction”) 


30 










































































































































































































































































































































































ing technical improvement of the highest practi¬ 
cal value has been reached, greatly increasing the 
scope of possible applications. In all ceramic 
materials a technical advance of the most pro¬ 
nounced nature has been, made in modern times 
and this fact must be recognized in developing 
any vital and appropriate technique for these 
mediums. We cannot go back to the individual 
craftsman basis of limited hand production and 
crude process which has yielded so much of sur 
passing charm in the ceramic work of past periods. 
All we can hope to do is to recover so much of this 
lost quality as is compatible with the necessary 


missible in certain specific mediums. But very 
little may be said in relation to the case of brick, 
especially the glazed varieties which may be 
included under the term ceramic material. The 
rigid limitations of the brick making process 
present no possibility of employing brick in any 
other way than frankly as brick. The jointing 
will always so announce it even ♦where moulded 
varieties are employed. One circumstance in 
the employment of modern brick stands out in 
very significant illustration of the permissive 
aspects of the principle formulated above. In 
certain varieties of unglazed brick effects are 



Main entrance, Ceramics Building, Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N. J. 


Doorway consoles, cheeks and balustrade in buff terra cotta enriched with polychrome in the entrance reveals. Walls in select¬ 
ed common red brick. This building, devoted to education in the production of ceramic materials, is constructed almost en¬ 
tirely of burned clay products. Illustration by courtesy of “The Ceramist” 


conditions of production today and which lends 
itself naturally to the very much wider scope of 
use which the present development of ceramic 
mediums admits. 

Legitimate Effects in Technique 

From this fact we may formulate the following 
definite principle of technique: A fundamentally 
correct employment of any material is the use 
which can be made of it in design without doing 
violence to its essential nature. 

Application of this principle brings up at once 
the question of what is permissible and not per- 


being obtained variously designated as “tapestry” 
and “rug texture” surfaces. A literal construc¬ 
tion of these terms to mean the duplication in 
brick of exact characteristics of pile or weave so 
as to present the appearance of a woven fabric 
would seem to involve the utmost insincerity and 
inappropriate conception of medium. Even a 
similarity sufficient to justify use of the terms 
“tapestry” and “rug,” etc., which are employed 
for want of words equally convenient and 
accurate as description, suggests the idea of 
imitation which is so repugnant to the sincere 
designer. But is there after all any real basis for 


31 

























Examples of modeling in unglazed buff Terra Cotta which express well the quality and feeling of clay work 

Warren 8C Wetinore, Architects 


this objection? The suggestion of tapestry or 
rug fabrics in color and texture is quite readily 
obtainable under the modern process of brick 
manufacture. Their realization involves no 
straining of the nature of material, no forced 
inappropriate process or impracticable expense, 
but is something which is now quite naturally 
possible to the clay medium and as the approxi¬ 


mation of effect does not include any yielding 
softness of the surface to the touch there is 
nothing in the problems of good formal design 
which forbids use to express significantly and 
consistently the fact of a solid wall surface. The 
obvious jointing, if nothing else, disposes of that. 
A “tapestry” or “rug texture” brick wall cannot 
be anything in appearance but a brick wall not- 



Terra Cotta panel for Chapel of St. John’s Hospital, St. Louis, Mo. 

Barnett, Haynes Barnett, Architects 

Field in deep blue with gold stars; figures and border in warm gray. This design illustrates a simplicity not only in line 
with the best early precedent in ecclesiastical decoration but appropriate and economical for Terra Cotta 

32 



















withstanding- the implication of these terms and 
the duplicating effort they may imply. 

In the case of terra cotta, however, effects ap¬ 
proximating other materials in color and texture, 
however naturally produced, encounter no such 
safeguard for preserving the identity of this ma¬ 
terial as we find in the rigid limitations of familiar 
brick jointing and where the design of ornament 
deliberately seeks to repeat the rigid feeling of 
stone carving the casual observer may readily 
mistake the medium. Limitation to the success of 
such intention occurs, however, where consistency 


designer to determine where a merely visual satis¬ 
faction of either kind is legitimate or if the aspect 
of sincerity in construction calls for the actual 
fact of larger size masonry units and a consequent 
selection of material affording this. (If we get 
too deeply into that we might have to rule out the 
whole system of clothing steel frame buildings 
with any covering simulating masonry construc¬ 
tion, as the sincerity of that in any form so 
applied is debatable.) 

In this connection, a solution which is growing 
in favor with progressive architects is that a 



Detail of New York Orthopedic Dispensary Hospital, New York City 
York & Sawyer, Architects 

An application of red unglazed Terra Cotta and stucco similar to that shown in the Italian example illustrated on page 
27 The suppression of jointing and extreme precision of alignment are qualities commonly demanded in Terra Cotta 

to the detriment of its interest as material. Recognition of this appears to have led to pointing the joints with white 
cement to emphasize them frankly. Tess regularity would have enhanced the character 


in scale calls for monumental proportions in terra 
cotta pieces which are beyond the possibility of 
economical production and except where the 
expedient of concealed joints in certain ornamental 
features is practicable the identity of terra cotta 
is evident from its visible jointing. The expedient 
of rusticating alternate or more widely separated 
joints often adopted in stone and terra cotta may 
'give the effect of larger units than commonly 
produced in either, but a difference in shade or 
coloring readily admitted by a ceramic medium 
may also be used to satisfy the eye’s demand for 
larger unit interest. It must remain for the 


scheme of visible jointing for large wall surfaces 
in terra cotta may be made to assume a textural 
interest analogous to that occurring from the 
jointing of brick when spread over a large surface 
and as perfectly consistent in structural feeling. 
The writer recalls several instances of terra 
cotta construction where, intentionally or other¬ 
wise, the use of a moderate size unit readily pro¬ 
ducible in terra cotta yielded a most satisfying 
effect in this way. Where conditions admit, this 
solution appears to be preferable to that sometimes 
attempted of forcing the production of terra cotta 


33 














HEAVY"BRACKETED COEN/CE ' 

WITH obnamEnTEd chEnEau - 

EH OWING METHOp oESVFTORT 
AMD ANCHORAGE ~ 


section THicky 

CORNICE! ohune'B'B-’ 

JE±1 --- 4 


SCALE'THREE QUARTERS OE AN INCH EQUALS ONE Tt>OT~ 


A heavier type of cornice much more logically suited to the spirit of Terra Cotta and better adapted for color treatment. In Polychrome 
treatment projections can be reduced by the judicious use of color which can be made to accentuate depth, minimizing the need of shadow 

(Reproduced from “Architectural Terra Cotta Standard Construction“) 


34 







































































































































































































































































































































































into pieces of extreme monumental size which its 
nature is not capable of readily yielding. 

Quite apart from any aesthetic standards there 
is a practical advantage in the reduced expense 
of construction which would follow development 
of a more appropriate technique for terra cotta. 
Wide projections in cornice and other features 
of relief depending for support upon hanging 
devices of iron and steel not only require the most 
careful detailing for security but illustrate an 
expense in the total for construction as now en¬ 
countered that might often be dispensed with. 
Moreover, they are in themselves not motives best 
adapted for color treatment. A flatter treatment 
for a material like terra cotta not only conduces 
to that absolute durability which is so well attested 
by early Italian and other uses of it in examples 
of over 500 years’ standing, but is more suited to 
the spirit of a clay material and in many cases 
enables a sufficient interest to be introduced in 
varied coloring to dispense with costly formal con¬ 


struction and its enrichment with expensive detail. 

Recognition of this has already produced some 
recent examples which contain the promise of a 
very interesting development. In, the city of 
Honolulu, for instance, there has lately been 
erected an important building covering an entire 
city block where an attempt appears to have been 
made to follow a distinctively terra cotta tech¬ 
nique in the treatment of jointing, if not, per¬ 
haps, so noticeably in other aspects of design. 
Throughout the entire exterior, which is all in 
terra cotta, and illustrates an immense use of 
this material, not a single joint was ground, 
leaving the soft edge natural to a clay piece instead 
of the knife-sharp edge given by a rubbing bed 
as commonly demanded in terra cotta. A frankly 
appropriate design and treatment conducing to 
economy in the production of any material has 
a practical advantage in a time of high building 
costs, especially where it carries an artistic 
improvement in the result. 



Base of arcade pier in a modern building for Theodore H. Davies &C 
Company, Ltd., Honolulu, T. H. 

Louis Christian Mullgardt, Architect 

Showing the soft edges of unground Terra Cotta pieces with slightly 
raked out joints, glaze being allowed to return over the edges. 
Color, a variable brown glaze verging to shades of olive green 













Appendix 

T HE following shades of color and charac¬ 
teristics of texture are now obtainable in 
terra cotta as produced in the United States. 

In colored glazes the palette includes reds, rang¬ 
ing from a pale pink to deep madder; blues from 
a light sky blue to cerulean and deep indigo; greens 
from light emerald and malachite to grass greens 
and olive shades; yellows from pale shades sug¬ 
gesting Naples to deep ochres; browns from cafe- 
au-lait to dark russet ; light and deep purples of 
both red and bine cast, mauve and, of course, black 
and white, the latter including several shades from 
pure white to a deep cream or buff white. Also 
toned whites of a grayish cast extending into posi¬ 
tive grays of a French and putty quality. These 
are the shades producible at the regular high firing 
temperatures followed in the manufacture of terra 
cotta. Consistent gradations of all of these colors 
may now be obtained. For certain special effects 
there are obtainable at an additional cost several 
other varieties of the colors named which are pro¬ 
duced at lower firing temperatures or obtained by 
additional firings, such as vermilion and gold. 

In unglazed terra cotta the ceramic finish is 
usually in shades of buff, gray, salmon, red and 
brown. Most of these colors are vitreous. In 
glazed or enameled terra cotta the finish may be 
either matt or a bright glassy surface. 

Previous to the application of ceramic finish in 
either glazed or unglazed terra cotta the body of 
the ware may be given a surface treatment to com¬ 
bine with the color in a desired textural effect. 
This body surface may be smooth or tooled in 
from six to eight lines to the inch, or may take the 
form of a light or heavy irregular drag or combing. 
Special surface treatments of a pitted or wavy 
character realizing the quality of hand finish are 
also obtainable although usually at an extra ex¬ 
pense. 

The term polychrome when prefixed to terra 
cotta usually denotes the application of two or 
more colors to the single piece. It is important 
that the parts to be treated in this manner be 
clearly indicated on drawings as the expense is 
higher than execution in a single shade of color 
for each unit. (The term however does not denote 
certain speckled and mottled finishes produced by 
the intermingling of two or more colors for a 
ground color to be used without other applied 
coloring.) 



Upper portion of tower, Pantages Theatre 
Building, Kansas City, Missouri 
B. Marcus Priteca, Architect 
Positive polychrome treatment of towers 
has been comparatively rare in this coun¬ 
try. From the Central West we have this 
example in cream enamel and polychrome 
Terra Cotta indicating a direction in 
which color can be lavishly and appro¬ 
priately employed 


36 








! 



Building for Joseph F. Sturdy &C Company 
Chicago, Ill. 

Joseph F. Sturdy, Architect 
Progress from the brownstone era in 
color interest and otherwise is well exem¬ 
plified in this instance of polychrome archi¬ 
tecture in brick and Terra Cotta 


Bibliogbaphy 


' I V HE following does not aim to give all of the 
works which have been written upon the phe¬ 
nomena of color and the principles of its applica¬ 
tion in the various arts. Practical value for pur¬ 
poses of study requires that selection should be con¬ 
fined to a few comprehensive works of more im¬ 
mediate assistance to the architect and which are 
readily obtainable by purchase or can be found in 
American public libraries. Casual articles which 
have appeared from time to time in periodicals 
have been excluded under the probable difficulty 
of obtaining back numbers. 

Adams, Edward: The Polychromatic Ornament 
of Italy. Published by G. W. McKisson, London, 
Wiley & Putnam, New York. Containing colored 
plates from the author’s drawings with explana¬ 
tory text. 

Chevreul, Michel Eugene: The Principles of 
Harmony and Contrast of Colors and Their Ap¬ 
plication to the Arts. Translated from the French 
by Charles Martel. Published by Longmans, 
Brown, Green & Longmans, London. Illustrated 
with many cuts and colored plates. An exhaustive 
and complete study of the nature and phenomena 
of colors and their relation. 

Chevreul, Michel Eugene: Expose d’un Moyen 
de Definer et DeNommer Les Couleurs. Pub¬ 
lished by Didot Freres et Fils, Paris. An atlas of 
colored plates with brief explanatory text in 
French. 

Crace, J. D.: The Art of Color Decoration. 
Published by B. T. Batsford, London. Contains 
colored plates and explanatory text. 

Cruttwell, Maud: Luca and Andrea Della Rob¬ 
bia and Their Successors. Published by E. P. 
Dutton, New York. Three hundred and sixty- 
three pages with many illustrations. 

Gruner, Lewis: The Terra Cotta Architecture of 
North Italy. Published by John Murray, Al¬ 
bemarle Street, London, 1867. Text in English by 
V. Ottolini and F. Lose with forty-eight colored 
plates from drawings and restorations by Federigo 
Lose. 

Racinet, M. A.: L’Omament Polychrome. Pub¬ 
lished by Didot Freres, Paris. Text in French 
with two thousand illustrations including many 
colored plates. 

Speltz, Alexander: The Colored Ornament of 
All Historical Styles. Published by Baumgart¬ 
ner, Leipzig. Four parts, text in English with 
two hundred and forty colored plates. 


37 


























MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL TERRA COTTA SOCIETY 
Executive Offices, 19 West 44th Street, New York 


American Terra Cotta & Ceramic 
Co., 1701 Prairie Ave., Chicago 1 , 

Ill. 

Atlanta Terra Cotta Company, Citi¬ 
zens & Southern Bank Bldg., At¬ 
lanta, Ga. 

Atlantic Terra Cotta Company, 350 
Madison Ave., New York City 

Brick, Terra Cotta & Tile Company, 
Corning, N. Y. 

N. Clark & Sons, 116 Natoma St., 
San Francisco, Cal. 

Conkling - Armstrong Terra Cotta 
Co., 410 Denckla Bldg., Philadel¬ 
phia, Pa. 

Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Com¬ 
pany, Pioneer Bldg., Seattle, 
Wash. 

The Denver Terra Cotta Company, 
West First Ave. & Umatilla St., 
Denver, Colo. 

Federal Terra Cotta Company, 101 
Park Ave., New York City 

Gladding, McBean & Company, 
Crocker Bldg., San Francisco, Cal. 

Indianapolis Terra Cotta Company, 
Olney & Roosevelt Sts., Indian¬ 
apolis, Ind. 

Kansas City Terra Cotta & Faience 
Co., 19th St. & Manchester Ave., 
Kansas City, Mo. 

O. W. Ketcham, 121 No. 18th St., 
Philadelphia, Pa. 


Livermore Fire Brick Works, 604 
Mission St., San Francisco, Cal. 

Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company, 
Frost Building, Los Angeles, Cal. 

Midland Terra Cotta Company, 
Chamber of Commerce Bldg., Chi¬ 
cago, Ill. 

New Jersey Terra Cotta Company, 
Singer Bldg., New York City 

New York Architectural Terra Cot¬ 
ta Co., 401 Vernon Ave., Long 
Island City, N. Y. 

Northern Clay Company, Auburn, 
Wash. 

The Northwestern Terra Cotta Co., 
2525 Clybourn Ave., Chicago, Ill. 

St. Louis Terra Cotta Company, 
5815 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 
Mo. 

South Amboy Terra Cotta Company, 
150 Nassau St., New York City 

Tropico Potteries, Inc., Glendale, 
Los Angeles County, Cal. 

Washington Brick, Lime & Sewer 
Pipe Co., Washington St. & Pacific 
Ave., Spokane, Wash. 

Western Terra Cotta Company, 
Franklin Ave. & Mo. Pac. Ry., 
Kansas City, Mo. 

Winkle Terra Cotta Company, Cen¬ 
tury Bldg., St. Louis, Mo. 


(The National Terra Cotta Society is a bureau operated by the manufacturers of terra 
cotta in the United States for the technical and artistic improvement of product, the dissemi¬ 
nation of authentic information relating to it and the assistance of the architectural and 
engineering professions in the proper and effective employment of this material.) 


38 




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